Cable companies UPC and Ziggo cleared to merge, says Bloomberg
Liberty Global will be given permission to take over its Dutch competitor Ziggo by the European Commission, financial news agency Bloomberg said on Tuesday.
However, the approval will be conditional on Liberty Global selling its Film 1 channel to head of competition concerns, two sources have told Bloomberg.
Liberty Global, which owns Dutch market number two UPC, made a formal offer of €34.53 a share for Dutch cable market leader Ziggo in January.
Ziggo was founded over five years ago following the merger of three separate cable operators and has 55% of the Dutch market. UPC has around 35%. Neither company has nationwide coverage and their areas do not overlap. Together they will have four million subscribers.
The rest of the Dutch cable market is made up of four small regional players and 15 or so town-based providers.
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